


The Gift

by red_jaebyrd



Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Alfred Pennyworth is the Best, Batfamily (DCU) Feels, Damian Wayne Needs Love, Damian Wayne-centric, Damian is a good grandson, Damian loves his Grandpa 2020, Family Fluff, Fluff, Gen, Good Grandparent Alfred Pennyworth
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-21
Updated: 2020-08-21
Packaged: 2021-03-06 23:20:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,424
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26037037
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/red_jaebyrd/pseuds/red_jaebyrd
Summary: Who knew the simple gesture of gifting a cat to Damian would be the very thing that he needed all along.
Relationships: Alfred Pennyworth & Damian Wayne
Comments: 6
Kudos: 128
Collections: Damian Loves His Grandpa Challenge 2020





	The Gift

Damian had always wanted to have a cat, but he had never told anyone. So when Pennyworth presented him with one in the Cave it came as a bit of surprise. He wasn’t even sure Pennyworth liked him, though he tolerated Damian. Every subordinate “tolerated” Damian, Pennyworth wasn’t any different. Soon Pennyworth would grow to dislike him. They all did, but Damian couldn’t be bothered to care. It was beneath him to entertain such feelings. What did he care if Pennyworth liked him or not?

It was astounding the amount of disrespect and rebellious behavior Father tolerated from Pennyworth. The butler constantly meddled in their business by monitoring their sleep, making sure they were fed before and after patrol; and even had the gull to bench them from patrol due to injuries. The insolence of it all was hardly anything Damian could tolerate from a servant.

Father said Pennyworth’s rules and restrictions were just his way of showing that he cared about them and their safety. Damian thought it was a way for Pennyworth to assert his power over the Waynes and one day take over. He thought his Father naïve for having such faith in a butler. Pennyworth may care about his father, but not him. None of the servants at his Grandfather’s compound ever cared about his wellbeing enough for Damian to trust them. Their care for him was conditional. They feared for their lives more than they cared about keeping him safe.

Damian wasn’t sure what to make of Pennyworth’s meddling actions. It wasn’t because Pennyworth cared about him, no it was to remain in his Father’s good graces.

But then Pennyworth had given him a cat. Damian had always wanted a cat, but Grandfather saw them as useless, disgusting creatures and never permitted him to keep one. One day Damian had found an abandon kitten and he had been allowed to care for it, but it was a test. Everything with the League was always a test. When approached by his Grandfather to kill the kitten, Damian refused seeing no purpose in an act so senseless. Of course he was punished for refusing to end the animal’s life and since then he had been wary of caring for any animals; that was until he came to stay with his Father. Father had gotten him a dog and eventually let him keep the cow he rescued from a slaughterhouse.

He must not get attached to the cat, which shouldn’t be hard as it was currently hissing at Damian. The cat was a young tuxedo cat with a white marking across its whiskers like a mustache just like Pennyworth.

“He has potential. I’ll call him Alfred.”

It seemed like an unusual name to give to a cat, but it fit. The cat was bold for such a small creature and commanded respect, just like its namesake.

Damian watched with great interest the incredible care and patience Pennyworth had with a cat that seemed to hate him. He never attempted to pick up the cat, instead he’d kneel down and allow the cat to sniff his hand and only then would Pennyworth pet his head. He would always wait for the cat to come to him. At first the cat seemed to only be affectionate when it knew it was getting fed, but little by little he responded to both Pennyworth and Damian by curling up on their lap whenever either of them was seated.

It surprised Damian the effort Pennyworth took in helping him care for his cat. Pennyworth suggested they go to the pet store to get cat toys as cats ‘needed stimulation and enrichment’ and cat toys would help Alfred with human interaction and his trust issues.

A month had passed and the cat had stopped hissing…at Damian and Pennyworth. Pennyworth was the only other human Alfred the cat tolerated besides Damian. He was also the only person Damian trusted to help care for his cat.

The cat had been completely distrustful of everyone when it had first arrived, just like Damian. Perhaps that is what Pennyworth meant when he said, ‘I saw him and thought of you’? Damian still wasn’t sure of Pennyworth’s motives where the cat was concerned.

Pennyworth did prove himself to be a very trustful ally when caring for Alfred and if the cat trusted Pennyworth; that was good enough for Damian. Cats were instinctual creatures and their trust was hard earned.

There was still something that had been niggling at the back of Damian’s mind. Perhaps it wouldn’t matter to anyone else, but it mattered to him.

“Why did you get me a cat?” Damian asked, throwing the mouse toy at Alfred. The cat rolled on his side clawing it and kicked it back to Damian with his hind legs.

“I told you Master Damian. I saw him and thought of you.”

Damian furrowed his brow at Alfred. “Why were you thinking of me?”

“I’m always thinking of you, and your Father, and the boys,” Alfred smiled.

“Because it’s your job.”

“No, because you are all my family and I want to see you happy.”

“We’re your family?”

“Of course, my dear boy. This role that I have here at the Manor is more than just a job to me. Surely, you know that, Master Damian.”

Damian thought back to all the times that Pennyworth had taken care of him and yes, it was his job as the butler to take care of things in the household and by extension the people who lived in the house. But one thing Damian didn’t account for were the times Alfred took special care in remembering things that each of them liked, didn’t like, or couldn’t tolerate.

Pennyworth never once made Damian feel bad or force him to eat meat once he decided to be a vegetarian. Instead he altered recipes and respected Damian’s choice and helped him with his new chosen lifestyle.

Since the day Damian had arrived at Wayne Manor, Pennyworth had been patient with him, respected him and his space. There was no agenda, no act, no conditions.

Pennyworth cared for them all beyond just his role as the butler. His protectiveness for them was more like how a father cares for his children. Did that mean that Pennyworth thought of him, Grayson, Todd and Drake as his grandsons? 

“The cat was a gift from me to you, Master Damian. Because I felt he needed you and that you needed him.

Pennyworth came over to the floor and stroked Alfred’s head lightly.

“I always regretted not getting a pet for your father when he was young. He could have used the distraction and responsibility of caring for a pet to cope with his grief. I saw how well you responded to the task of caring for animals and I felt it was an attribute that should be nurtured. I made the executive decision to add another animal to your growing menagerie.”

“I am not grieving,” Damian retorted.

“Not in the same sense as your father did back then, but you have been through a rather difficult transition. You are adapting to a new lifestyle far removed from the way you had been previously reared. New expectations have also been set upon you now that you are here with your Father; that in itself is much to take in at such a young age.”

“You forget, Pennyworth. I am not a child.”

Pennyworth smiled. “You may have been raised to not think of yourself as a child, but don’t be so quick to grow up. Allow yourself some childhood trivialities. I’m sure there are many that you have yet to experience. Most importantly let others look after you, like me, your Father, and Master Dick.”

Damian nodded.

“Why do you care so much if I’m happy?” Damian asked, ashamed of the vulnerability in his voice.

He regretted the question immediately once the words left his mouth, but he couldn’t take it back. Alfred put his arm around Damian and squeezed him in a side hug.

“Grandads always care to make sure that their grandchildren are loved and happy,” Pennyworth answered, placing a kiss on Damian’s head.

Damian looked up at him. “You see me as a grandson?”

“Since the moment you walked through our doors, Master Damian.”

“But I was so awful to you.”

Alfred smiled and leaned his cheek onto Damian’s head. “I saw potential. Now what do you say to some cookies and hot chocolate?”

Damian laughed and followed Alfred to the kitchen. 


End file.
